Barrett Supports Del. Bill He Wants Licensing For Nutritionists

An Allentown psychiatrist who has vigorously opposed health quackery testified last week in support of Delaware legislation that would define and license the practice of nutritionists or dietitians.

Dr. Stephen Barrett, an author and lecturer on consumer health, testified in Dover, Del., about House Bill 169 (The Nutrition Practice Act), which defines qualifications needed to be called a dietitian or nutritionist and outlines their scope of practice.

At least 33 other states, including Pennsylvania, are in the process of developing regulations for the specialists.

Barrett suggested that unqualified people are obtaining "credentials" that resemble those of established medical organizations. The key issues of the bill, he said, "are credentials and public protection.

"I believe that it is unfair to expect the public to check the credentials of every practitioner they encounter. Rather, it should be the role of the government to set licensing standards and to prevent individuals who don't meet the standards from representing themselves as equivalent to those who do.

"A licensing system will not offer complete protection against all forms of nutrition conducted in private between consenting adults. But it will make it difficult for unqualified individuals to advertise widely that they are experts," Barrett said in his written testimony.

Barrett provided the committee of Delaware legislators with a copy of a certificate of "professional" membership to the American Association of Nutritional Consultants issued in the name of a pet hamster for $50 and a copy of a magazine advertisement for such a certificate.

" . . . In nutrition, unaccredited correspondence schools and other organizations have issued thousands of 'degrees' and certificates which suggest that the recipient is a qualified expert in nutrition. What's wrong with this situation is that these documents are promoted as though they are equivalent in meaning to established credentials

Because of registration requirements for dietitians, he and Nancy Cotugna, past president of the Delaware Dieticians Association, say the abuse has been with people who call themselves nutritionists.

Cotugna, who testified before the Delaware Senate last year on the same issue, explained that opposition comes mainly from the health food industry, which suggests the term "nutritionist" is generic.

"We're saying it is a professional term. There have been professional nutrition societies since the 1900s. To the public, it's the same thing," said Cotugna, a registered dietitian and assistant professor in the department of food science and human nutrition at the University of Delaware.

Last year, a similar bill passed the Delaware House and Senate but vetoed by the governor. According to Cotugna, the governor felt a greater majority of votes were needed.

She was optimistic that with the state's new governor and Legislature, H.B. 169 would become law.

Carol Kehler of the Pennsylvania Department of Health's legislative office, said nothing has been introduced in the state to date. Her research in January indicated seven states and Puerto Rico had enacted some form of licensure act.

In Pennsylvania, however, dietitians or nutritionists can register through the Commission on Dietetic Registration, Chicago.